Vegetable Enchilada Casserole

Enchilada Casserole is such a classic. I’ve seen a million different interpretations of this dish over the years. Why? Because it’s easy and it’s satisfying. End of story.

For my version, I began with a simple mix of black beans, corn, green chiles, green onion, and cilantro. To up the vegetable content, I also added a diced zucchini. I layered the vegetable mix between corn tortillas, cheese, and my Easy Red Enchilada Sauce. After a little time in the oven to make sure the vegetables are nice and tender and everything gets infused with the flavorful sauce, you’ve got a warm, filling, and insanely delicious casserole. And that’s something that everyone deserves at the end of the day.

I planned on making this casserole sans cheese because cheese is so expensive these days, but when I got to the store there was an insanely good sale on cheese. What luck! Anyway, to achieve the “creamy” factor without cheese I was going to stir 1/2 cup of sour cream into the enchilada sauce. I haven’t tested this technique, but I think it would have made for a really delicious and creamy casserole, even without cheese.

If you want a little more “tooth” or texture to your casserole, you can toast the corn tortillas in a dry skillet until golden brown before layering them into the casserole. They soak up quite a bit of liquid while baking, so they get pretty soft otherwise.

Want to add meat? Easy. Just brown some ground beef or chicken, season it with salt and pepper, and mix it into the vegetables.

Don’t like zucchini? Other vegetables that would be quite good in this include: red bell pepper, poblano peppers, or avocado. Mix it up and make it your own! :D

Instructions

Cut the zucchini into small cubes. Rinse and drain the black beans. Slice the green onions (both green and white portions). Pull the cilantro leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop. Combine the zucchini, black beans, frozen corn kernels, green onions, cilantro, and diced green chiles in a bowl. Add 1/4 tsp salt and stir until evenly combined.

To make the enchilada sauce, combine the oil, chili powder, and flour in a small sauce pot. Whisk them together over medium heat and allow it to begin to bubble. Let the mixture bubble while whisking for about one minute. Add the water, tomato paste, cumin, garlic, cayenne, and salt. Whisk until smooth. Heat the sauce until thick and bubbly (about 3-5 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x9 casserole dish by coating lightly with non-stick spray. Spread a 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of the dish. Arrange 1/3 of the tortillas over the sauce, followed by 1/3 of the vegetable mixture. Drizzle 1/2 cup of the sauce over the vegetables, then top with 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat these layers two more times, or until the vegetable mix, sauce, and cheese are gone.

Bake the casserole for 40-45 minutes, or until the edges are bubbly and the cheese just begins to brown on top. Slice into six portions and top with extra green onions and cilantro, if desired.

Notes

Vegetable Enchilada Casserole

Step by Step Photos

Cut a 3/4 lb. zucchini into a small dice. The small size of the cubes is important so that they cook through and don’t create huge lumps in the casserole.

Combine the diced zucchini (they’re on the bottom) with a 15oz. can of black beans (rinsed and drained), 1 cup frozen corn, 4oz. can diced green chiles, 3-4 sliced green onions, and about 1/4 bunch chopped fresh cilantro in a large bowl.

Add 1/4 tsp salt and stir the vegetables until they’re well mixed.

Next make the enchilada sauce. In a small sauce pot combine 2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil, 2 Tbsp chili powder, and 2 Tbsp flour.

Whisk the oil, flour, and chili powder together over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Let it bubble, while whisking, for about one minute.

Next add 2 cups water, 3oz. tomato paste (half of a 6oz. can), 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and 3/4 tsp salt. Whisk until smooth and heat over medium flame until it thickens. It will begin to thicken as it approaches a simmer (thanks to the flour-chili powder roux created in the first step).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and begin to layer the casserole. Start by coating the inside of a 9×9 casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce over the bottom.

Next, add a layer of corn tortillas. I like to cut some in half so that I have a straight edge to line the dish. I used four tortillas per layer.

Add 1/3 of the vegetable mixture on top of the tortillas, then drizzle 1/2 cup of the sauce over top.

Finally, add 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top of the vegetables and sauce. Repeat these layers two more times (tortillas-vegetables-sauce-cheese).

Until all the vegetables are used up and the casserole dish is full.

Bake the casserole in the preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the edges are really bubbly and the cheese just begins to brown on top. Warning: it smells AH-MAZ-ING. Top with extra cilantro and green onion if desired.

87 comments on “Vegetable Enchilada Casserole”

We recently gave up all meat after watching Netflix’s Forks over Knives so we’ve been scouring the internet for good, easy vegetarian or vegan recipes. THIS ONE HIT IT OUT OF THE BALL PARK FOR US!!!! omg, my husband commented, if THIS is what a zero meat diet is going to taste like, then, it’s going to be easy to stay on it!!” And, even the enchiladas sauce, alone, should be what cooks use rather than the packaged or bottled stuff, it is delicious!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!! We were satisfied, amazed and healthier for it. I’ve sent the name of your website to many friends & family telling them this gal has some good recipes for everyone.

Good recipe. The only problem with it was that even with light toasting, the tortillas turned to complete mush. Tasty mush, but mush nonetheless. I did add a little sour cream to the vegetable mixture rather than using cheese, except on top, so that may have been part of the problem. I added some red bell pepper and pasilla pepper to the mixture, which added nicely to texture and color. Very small pieces of zucchini and pepper were key to being able to avoid the step of sautéing; even small pieces kept a bit of firmness after baking. Next time, I’ll leave out the sour cream and toast the tortillas more.

This was really, really good. I forgot to get a can of chilis at the supermarket (and they’re about $5 each so I wasn’t going back just for one) so added a bunch of pickled jalapeno slices from the fridge, and mixed some sour cream through the veggies (for the sauciness). Yum!!

Hi! I’m Beth

As a food lover and a number cruncher I've decided that cooking on a budget shouldn't mean canned beans and ramen noodles night after night. Join me for delicious recipes designed for small budgets. More »